Robert McLiam Wilson | |
|---|---|
 Belfast-born author, Robert McLiam Wilson | |
| Born | Robert Wilson 24 February 1964 Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Occupation | Novelist, journalist |
| Language | English |
| Education | St Malachy's College; St Catharine's College, Cambridge |
| Genre | Crime, Thriller |
| Notable works | Ripley Bogle, Eureka Street |
| Notable awards | Betty Trask Award; Rooney Prize |
Robert McLiam Wilson (born Robert Wilson, 24 February 1964) [1][2] is a Northern Irish novelist.
Biography
He was born in the New Lodge district of Belfast and then moved to Turf Lodge and other places in the city.[3]
He attended St Malachy's College and studied English at St Catharine's College, Cambridge;[4] however, he dropped out[5][6] and, for a short time, was homeless.[6] This period of his life profoundly affected his later life and influenced his works.[5]
Wilson moved to Paris where he writes for Charlie Hebdo and Libération.[6] He also writes occasionally for The Guardian, Corriere della Sera and Le Monde.
Work
McLiam Wilson has written three novels:[2]
- Ripley Bogle (1989)
- Manfred's Pain (1992)
- Eureka Street (1996)
Ripley Bogle is a novel about a homeless man in London. Eureka Street focuses on the lives of two Belfast friends, one Catholic and one Protestant, shortly before and after the IRA ceasefires in 1994. A BBC TV adaptation of Eureka Street was broadcast in 1999.[5]
He is also the author of a non-fiction book about poverty, The Dispossessed (1992),[2] and has made television documentaries for the BBC. His next novel, Extremists, has been postponed again and again.
Critical review
His work has been described as 'strikingly original'[7] and as 'one of the most influential literary voices to emerge from Northern Ireland since the Troubles began [who has] has challenged the understanding of contemporary Irishness'.[8]
Awards
In 2003, he was named by Granta magazine as one of 20 "Best of Young British Novelists", despite the fact that he has not published new work in English since 1996.[2]
"Ripley Bogle" won the Rooney Prize and the Hughes Prize in 1989, and a Betty Trask Award and the Irish Book Awards in 1990.[2]
External links
- Collection of Wilson's columns and articles in Charlie Hebdo (In English).
- The scurrilous lies written about Charlie Hebdo, The Guardian
- The solace of an Australian summer when cricket brought hope and light, The Guardian
References
- ^ Troubles Archive
- ^ a b c d e "Robert McLiam Wilson". contemporarywriters. Archived from the original on 3 October 2007. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
- ^ "I've always been very anti-IRA and anti-nationalist... but there can't be a comparison with Isis sociopaths". Retrieved 14 January 2017.
- ^ Goodreads: Robert McLiam Wilson (Author of Eureka Street)
- ^ a b c "Eureka Street and me Robert McLiam Wilson has put a lot of himself into Eureka Street, his novel and now TV drama". Evening Standard. 8 September 1999. Retrieved 1 January 2011.[dead link]
- ^ a b c Jarlath Regan (30 January 2016). "Robert McLiam Wilson". An Irishman Abroad (Podcast) (124 ed.). SoundCloud. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
- ^ Farquharson, Danine (2005). "The language of violence in Robert McLiam Wilson's Eureka Street". New Hobernia Review. 9 (4): 65–78. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
- ^ Hicks, Patrick (2008). "The failure of parenting and the success of love in Robert McLiam Wilson's Ripley Bogle and Eureka Street". Irish Studies Review. 16 (2): 131–141. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
